Railway-crossing.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OLIVER N. BEAM, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO JAMES F. WILHITE,

OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

RAILWAY-CROSSING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 4', 1917.

Application filed March 20, 1917. Serial No. 156,146.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER N. BEAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Railway-Crossings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a railway crossing and particularly pertains to means for eliminating the noise at track intersections.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a simple device which may be incorporated within the formation of railway rails or may be readily attached thereto in a manner to relieve the pounding of the car wheels upon the rails as they cross the intersections.

Another object of this invention is to provide a device for accomplishing the above result which does not embody the use of any operating mechanism and which requires slight expense in its production.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a device of the. above class which will act equally well upon both tracks at the intersecting crossing and will easily carry the wheels of the .cars without abrupt motion or in at any point along their path of travel.

Other objects .will appear hereinafter.

The invention is illustrated, by way of example, in the, accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a view in plan illustrating a railway track intersection fitted with the anti-noise devices.

Fig. 2 is a View in transverse section as seen on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 and particularly discloses the application of the device to one of the intersecting rails.

Fig. 3 is a view illustrating the manner in which a separate inclined member is provided the intersecting rails.

Fig. 1 is a view in section and elevation as seen on the line 47-4; ofFig. 3 more particularly illustrating the manner in which the device is detachably secured to the rail.

Fig. 5 is a view illustrating another form of the device adapted to be attached to the short lengths of rails between intersecting rails.

Fig. 6 is a view in side elevation disclosing the member shown in Fig. 5.

Referring more particularly to the drawthe parallel ings, 10-and 11 indicate parallel rails forming one track. 12 and 13 indicate parallel rails forming an intersecting track which is here shown at right angles to the first named rails. Interp-osed between the pairs of parallel rails are short rails 14, 15, 16 and 17 which form continuations of the main track members across the intersections. In order to prevent the pounding of the car wheels as they pass along the main track and cross the intersection, the ends of the rails adjacent the intersecting points are specially formed, as particularly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. It will be seen that in this figure rail members 10 are formed with inclined face portions 18 and 19in opposition to each other and in opposition to inclined face portions 20 and 21 formed upon the rail 16. A flange groove '22 is formed between the ends of the inclined planes and permits the flanges of car wheels passing along the other tracks to clear the intersecting rails without jar. The inclined faces 19 of each of the rails 10, 11, 12 and 13 meet at the corner to provide means for lifting the car wheels, irrespective of the direction along which the wheels are moving. 'The inclined faces 18,19, 20 and 21 are above the balls of the rails so that the tread faces of the wheels will bear upon these inclined faces. It will thus be seen that as the wheels move upwardly upon the inclined faces and their flanges pass along the slots 22, the wheels will be raised and will jump the in tervening flange groove of the intersecting rails without noise, after which the wheel will ride down the inclines adjacent the elevating inclines and will again travel along the straight rail.

In order to permit the present device to be used upon tracks which have already been placed in position, an angle attachment 23 such as going up the incline 19, for instance, in Fig.

2, will jump the slot 22 and pass down theincline 20, the amount of jar and noise produced depending upon the relative rate of speed and the relative incline. If the car is going at a proper rate of speed, as the wheel passes up the incline 19 the momentum of the car will carry it over the slot 22. Of course, when the speed is high the momentum will carry the wheels farther over the slot and when the speed is low the momentum will be insuflicient. The momentum will carry the wheels over the slots so that the wheels will strike the flat surface of the rail at a point beyond the sharp edge of the slot. The major portion of the noise incident to railway crossings is due to the fact that the wheels strike squarely the 0p osite edge of the slot in passing over. I co not contend that my invention will entirely eliminate all noise in a crossing, but that it will do away with the major portion of the sharp blow or click incident to the edge of the slot striking the wheels.

It will thus be seen that the railway crossing here provided is simple in formation and will easily operate to eliminate the noise and wear incident to the movement of cars across intersecting trackways.

While I have shown the preferred construction of my railway crossing as now known to me, it will be understood that various changes in the combination, construction and arrangement of parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention.

claim:

1. A track intersection, comprising pairs of parallel rails intersecting each other, and having flange grooves formed across said rails at their intersections, and means upon the balls of the rails whereby the wheels of a car will be elevated and caused to cross the intersecting rails without striking the flange groove of said intersecting rail.

2. A rail intersection, comprising pairs of parallel rails forming tracks, said tracks intersecting each other and having flange grooves formed across said rails at their intersections, and inclined faces formed upon the balls of said rails adjacent the point of intersection of the rails whereby car wheels passing therealong will be elevated and caused to cross over the intersecting flange groove without noise or jar.

8. A rail intersection, comprising a plu-I rality of rails forming tracks intersecting each other, and inclined elevating faces upon the balls of the rails and formed as continuations of the rails and designed to occur adjacent the intersection of the rails with I each other and having flange grooves formed between said inclined faces and across the intersecting rails, and forming means whereby the wheels of a car may be carried up upon said incline and over the intersecting flange groove and thereafter gradually lowered to the normal face of the rail with out jar or noise.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

OLIVER N. BEAM. I

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

